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To: Polycarp
Calvin did not have a job with the civil service other than that of an expositor of scripture. The history of Geneva is well-known in this regard.

Any comparison between Calvin and Torquemada's butchers is ludicrous.
48 posted on 07/11/2003 9:44:03 AM PDT by George W. Bush
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To: George W. Bush; B-Chan; d-back
Any comparison between Calvin and Torquemada's butchers is ludicrous.

Wrong again.

DEATH BY GOVERNMENT Chapter 3: Pre-Twentieth Century Democide

The Spanish Inquisition established in 1480 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and that was led from 1483 to 1498 by the Dominican monk de Torquemada may have burned to death as many as 10,220 heretics in total; ...a more realistic figure is that of the General Secretary of the Inquisition, who estimated that from 1480 to 1488, 8,800 people were killed by fire, and from 1480 to 1808 the victims may have totaled 31,912.99

The Catholic Church's attempt to so purge heretics had its counterpart in the Reformation Protestant's campaign against witches. Witches were believed to have sold their soul to the Devil for magical powers. While the Salem witch trials of Massachusetts in 1692 give the impression that early Americans were particularly prone to this superstition, it was really in Europe, particularly in Germany and France, that the torture and killing of alleged witches was most prevalent. Under Calvin's government of Geneva in 1545, for example, thirty-four women were recorded burned or quartered for witchcraft. In the late years of the 16th Century, witch hunts reached their peak. In some German cities historians estimate that as many as 900 "witches" in a year were killed, often after agonizing torture to force out confessions; in some villages hardly a women was left alive. In total, throughout Christendom more than 30,000 "witches" may have killed;102 Taking into account the routine nature of these killings, the final figure may be around 100,000;103 it might even reach 500,000.104

Notice that "witch burning" was primarily a protestant sport, and that the protestants far outpaced the Inquisition in this regard.

In other words, ALL the churches must accept blame, not just Rome, and the protestants who insist on throwing stones must wake up and admit they too live in huge glass houses.

49 posted on 07/11/2003 9:58:53 AM PDT by Polycarp (When a mother can kill her own child, what is left of the West to save?" - Mother Theresa)
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To: George W. Bush
The Spanish Inquisition established in 1480 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and that was led from 1483 to 1498 by the Dominican monk de Torquemada may have burned to death as many as 10,220 heretics in total; 125,000 possibly died from torture and privation in prison.97

The Catholic Church's attempt to so purge heretics had its counterpart in the Reformation Protestant's campaign against witches. Under Calvin's government of Geneva in 1545, for example, thirty-four women were recorded burned or quartered for witchcraft. ...Taking into account the routine nature of these killings, the final figure may be around 100,000;103 it might even reach 500,000.104

Its always enlightening to see an apples to apples comparison, in this case Torquemada's 10,000 burned and 125,000 possibly died from torture and privation compared to Calvin's/protestantism's 100,000 to 500,000 burned at the stake.

You can stop whining now that we have the facts. Unless you want to continue to appear "ludicrous."

50 posted on 07/11/2003 10:11:51 AM PDT by Polycarp (When a mother can kill her own child, what is left of the West to save?" - Mother Theresa)
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